Abstract
Enlisting the aid of parents' informal support networks in child maltreatment interventions is a widely accepted practice; yet little is known about how support affects parenting in maltreating families. This study examines the role of informal support among families receiving child welfare services. It posits that financial strain and negative life events affect parenting through their negative effect on maternal depression and examines the influence of informal supports on these relationships, whether child welfare services affected the availability of support, and whether change in support is associated with change in parents' exposure to stressors and parental functioning. The study's findings suggest that increasing support may reduce the amount of stressors and depression that parents experience and improve their positive parenting. But using support to alter negative parenting may be a more complex undertaking and depend on the supporter's capacity to provide constructive support.
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